This invention relates generally to a gas turbine engine and, more specifically, to a system employed within such an engine for separating foreign particles from a stream of air entering the engine.
A gas turbine engine commonly includes an intake for receiving all of the air entering the engine and a compressor inlet for receiving air entering the engine compressor. Each engine further includes interior walls defining a primary flowpath for air traveling from the intake to the compressor inlet. In order to reduce the likelihood of ingestion of foreign particles, such as sand or dust, by the engine, it is known that a particle separator system can be employed at the compressor inlet for scavenging foreign particles from the engine intake air. Commonly, such a separator system includes an annular partition, or splitter lip, appropriately positioned in relationship to the primary flowpath so that when the gas turbine is in operation, air intended for use by the compressor is directed along one side of the splitter lip, and foreign particles carried by the air entering the intake are directed along the other side of the splitter lip for collection and subsequent removal. Examples of such separator systems are shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,832,086, 4,265,646 and 4,527,387, each having the same assignee as the present invention.
Conventional particle separator systems, such as those described in the referenced patents, possess only a single annular inlet for receiving foreign particles carried by the air enterng the engine intake. While conventional separator systems possessing a single inlet are known to separate a substantial portion of such foreign particles from the intake air, some foreign particles, including many of the finer particles, will likely bypass the separator inlet or accumulate in the engine air passageways and thereby not be collected by the separator system. Such a bypassing or accumulation of particles may promote deterioration, and thereby shorten the useful life, of internal engine components and reduce performance of the engine.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved particle separator system for a gas turbine engine having an enhanced capacity for collecting foreign particles carried by a stream of air entering the engine intake.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system which is particularly well-suited for collecting relatively fine particles carried by the air entering the engine.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system for reducing the amount of foreign particles entrained within the airstream entering the engine intake.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system which reduces the likelihood of airflow separation in preselected regions of the intake airstream and thereby reduces the pressure loss ordinarily resulting from such airflow separation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system which disrupts mass transport mechanisms which contribute to particle separation inefficiencies.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system possessing no moving compartments, i.e. a passive system, so that the useful life of the system is relatively long.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system which is relatively low in cost, light in weight and effective in operation.